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Tony couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Over the last month Tony's measure of Roddie had been varying greatly, between the rogueish playboy he'd suspected and the sweet, gentle man he'd been getting to know. Roddie had invited him out the an arcade today, and Tony had refused because the offer had been too nice, too thoughtful, when Tony had been feeling so lost lately, and he couldn't accept. He'd found himself drawn to the mall anyways, and he'd been getting a smoothie from a stand outside the arcade when he'd glanced inside and seen Roddie. Roddie, standing with two unreasonably beautiful girls, all of them smiling at each other like they were flirting their asses off.

Tony is immediately, infuriatingly jealous, jealous of something he can't and won't have, furious at those girls for taking the attention he'd squandered.

He turns away, hating himself, and tries to get up the courage to walk away and not watch the exchange, but he can't quite manage it.

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"Yeah, I'm here for a couple of days," Roddie was telling the girls, smiling and scratching his head as he's slightly flustered by the attention, "My ship's got a space at the dock rented for this weekend. I've never been here before, I didn't know there'd be so many other humans around. I don't spend much time around other humans, my crew's mostly aliens 'cept for one guy. Oh, hang on --"

He squints, thinking he spots Tony standing a little ways off, and when Tony meets his eyes his grin widens.

"Oh, hey, he's right over there, actually!" he says, beaming and waving him over.

"Tony! I thought you said you were busy? C'mere!"

Tony's heart thumps when he meets Roddie's eyes, and he turns to flee but he's too late. Roddie calls to him, too loudly for him to pretend he didn't hear, so he sighs, slumping a little.

He doesn't bother putting on a fake smile as he walks over, glancing briefly at the two girls and focusing on Roddie.

"I finished early and came down to... Get a few things," he half shrugged, gesturing to his smoothie, "Well, uh, I'll see you back on the ship." He says, ready to bolt.

"No, no, come on!" Roddie laughs, catching Tony's arm at his elbow. The feeling of pity that Tony's expression instills in him is overwhelming, and he pulls him back to his side. He was determined to get him to have a good time, no matter what he had to do to make that happen.

"Come on, Tony, stay with us! We were just talking about going to the arcade, or maybe the movies, you should come!" he pleads, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze as he turns back to the girls.

"Sorry, he's more fun than he seems," he teases, ribbing him gently, "Tony, this is -- damn it, sorry, ladies, what are you guys' names again?"

Tony makes a face at Roddie's teasing, unsure why Roddie wanted to put him down in front of the women who couldn't have been interested in him.

"I... You don't have to invite me." Tony says, looking away.

"Rebecca," says one of the girls, with close-cropped blonde hair with a red streak, "And this is Trish," she says, gesturing to her friend with long brown hair and glasses.

"Rebecca, Trish, got it," Roddie says, pointing to each one in turn, "I won't forget. All right, Tony, this is Rebecca, this is Trish. Guys, this is Tony, my -- damn, actually, I got no idea what to call what he does on my ship, what do you do, dude?"

He laughs a little, grinning at Tony, deciding to leave out the part where Tony was sent by the government to keep tabs on him, deciding that might put Tony in a bad life.

"Anyway, he does a lot of our boring, thankless, nerd work and doesn't have fun enough and listens to me tease him all day, so, he really needs to come with us," he laughs, "Did you guys figure out what you wanted to do, by the way?"

Trish shakes her head and shrugs, her expression somewhat shy but happy all the same.

"No, I don't think we were sure. The food and the movie sounds like fun to me, but I'm up for whatever the rest of you want."

"I do your laundry," Tony says, deadpan, sighing when Roddie bowls over his attempts to refuse. He nods at the girls in turn, not really interested in getting to know them.

Rebecca gives the new guy a once over, her eyebrow going up as she can't help but wonder what a guy like that was doing with a guy like Roddie, though she doesn't say as much.

"Unclench, dude, it's cool," she says, clapping Tony on the back, and the bewildered expression on his face is frankly hilarious, "I think a movie sounds great, Trish."

Roddie laughs, as much at what the girl had said as at the expression on Tony's face.

"Yeah, please, tell him," he laughs, "He won't listen when I say it. So..."

He points to each of the three of them in turn.

"Movie, movie, movie? Movie. All right, we're going to a movie."

They set off in the direction of the theater, Roddie falling in step in between Rebecca and Tony with his hands stuck in his pockets.

"Hey, you know what he keeps talking about seeing is those...midieval elf knight movies, what are they called again?"

"Well, they aren't exactly midieval," Trish corrects instinctively, "It's more of a...high fantasy...setting..."

She crosses her arms when the others look at her, and her cheeks grow a little flushed.

"It's called Age of the Uprising," she says, with less confidence than before, "I...my mom read it to me when I was a kid. The book. There's a book. Trilogy."

"Roddie blinks, then stops in his tracks, taking Tony by the shoulders and moving him over next to Trish in their procession.

"You two should talk about this," he says, pointing at them, "All right, so, we're going to that, I guess?"

"Oh, I love the books!" Tony says, gladly swapping places to talk to the girl, momentariy forgetting to be upset, "They're telling real human stories in a fantasy setting!" He gushes, glad to be with someone who understood rather than write it off as 'medieval elf knight movies'.

Rebecca rolls her eyes, laughing, gladly falling into step next to Roddie.

"Yeah, Trish has been going on about those, too. Nerds," she says, smiling brightly and elbowing Roddie, "If it means I get to call Trish a nerd and watch dudes hit each other with swords, I'm game."

Roddie laughs, shooting her a sideways grin as they walk and half listening to Trish and Tony's unintelligible chatter.

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fun anyway," he says, kicking a small piece of plastic on the ground with his boot as they walk past, "I usually have fun at his nerd movies anyway, there's enough action and dragons and stuff even if I don't get what's going on."

He looks over at Rebecca again, and her teeth seem to be chattering. She was wearing very short shorts and a tube top, and Roddie's brow furrows in concern.

"You cold?" he asks, pausing and shrugging his jacket off just outside the movie theater and handing it to her, under which he had on a tight white undershirt. It revealed his prosthetic arm, which had been previously covered by the sleeve.

"You can use this, it always gets real fucking cold in movie theaters," he says with a grin, leaning on the door to hold it open for the other three.

"-- And honestly, is it just me, or do Klavier and Ananais have some like...serious romantic tension?" Trish was saying, her voice impassioned, "I mean, I wish the author would just say they're a thing, I'm afraid the movie is going to play it like they're brothers."

Rebecca gladly wraps the jacket tightly around herself, noting that it had a pleasant, light smell. Get eyebrows go up when she sees the metal on his arm, and reaches out to poke it.

"That's cool, is it real?" She says, reaching over to cup his metal bicep. Tony is momentarily distracted from the conversation by Roddie's jacket on Rebecca's shoulders, and Rebecca's hand on Roddie's arm, and he hopes desperately that they aren't going to start making out right away.

He makes himself tune back into the conversation, schooling his expression to hide his distaste.

"Oh my god, yeah!" He agrees emphatically, his enthusiasm real, "I hate that! It's like, c'mon, there's a perfectly good reason two guys would act like that, because they're in love and want to kiss each other on the mouth." He says, laughing.

"What, my arm?" Roddie says, bending it like he would if he were flexing despite having no muscles to speak of on the metal side of his body, "Yeah, it's real. Or, well, it's a real fake arm. I had a bad accident as a kid, I guess is the easiest way to put it. I've got a real fake leg, too, but, you know, pants."

He walks up to the counter, pulling out his wallet and pausing a moment to think briefly about how much money was on his credit chit before offering the card to the ticketmaster.

"Four, please, for...Age of the Uprising, right? I got you guys, don't worry about it."

He hands the tickets out, grinning especially wide at Tony as he hands him his.

"I know, I know!" Trish was saying, "Thank you, Jesus, they're so in love with each other, I --"

She straightens up when she catches Roddie looking at them, clearing her throat as she takes the ticket, and they all make their way to the theater.

"Don't mind me, I'm just glad he's got someone to talk about this with," Roddie laughs as they sit down, "I did my best, but after a few seconds I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Hey, you guys want snacks or anything? Me and him can go get some."

Tony laughs, a little embarrassed but glad for Trish's company all the same.

"Ooh, yes, popcorn!" Rebecca says, smiling up at Roddie. Tony falters a little at her expression, wondering why Roddie didn't jump at the chance to spend some time with Rebecca, his obvious preference, and he realizes that Roddie must be overly aware of Tony's nerves around new people, and trying to give him a break. Tony's immediately guilty and wishes he'd never left the ship, now more convinced than ever that he only causes problems for Roddie.

He follows Roddie out of the theater, frowning the whole time.

"So... Rebecca's pretty cute," He says while they wait in line, overly casual.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah," Roddie laughs, sniffing and rubbing his nose as he leans on the railing leaning up to the counter while they wait in line, "Yeah, I guess so. I'm having fun, are you? You seem like you are."

He folds his arms, smiling over at Tony and nudging him with his elbow.

"You and Trish seem like you're having a good time anyway. You, uh...you gonna get her number or anything?"

Tony shrugs, glancing over at Roddie and trying to gauge his reaction to Rebecca.

"I don't know, maybe," he says, looking away, "It would be nice to have someone to talk to about that kind of stuff." He swallows, unable to fight back the image of the alone time Roddie was going to no doubt take with Rebecca after the movie. He wondered if he'd invite her back to the ship, though he hadn't seen Roddie do that in the time he'd been on the ship.

"What about Rebecca?" he asks, his tone a little dark, "I'm sure she'd be thrilled."

"Oh, she actually already gave me it," he says with a grin, scratching his ear, "Right off the bat, actually." He steps up to the counter and orders two large popcorns and four sodas.

"Oh, and get me a box of chocolate covered almonds," he says when he spots them under the glass of the counter and nudging Tony with his elbow, "He likes those."

He picks up as many of the snacks as he can carry in his arms and starts heading back to the girls at a somewhat slow pace, grinning at Tony over the top of one of the buckets of popcorn.

"You gonna marry her?" he asks, teasingly.

Tony's heart sinks at the information, only to do a little flip at Roddie not only remembering his favorite candy but buying them for him, and the result is a confusingly pained expression on his face. He wishes he could tell Roddie to stop being so nice to him--especially while he was on a date with someone else--without sounding weird, or pathetic, or very likely both.

He frowns down at his feet as they walk, only to jerk his head up in surprise at Roddie's question.

"Marry her?" he repeats, incredulously, "I don't-- I'm not-- I mean, I don't... date girls. You... didn't know that?"

"Oh, what, really?" Roddie says, stopping in his tracks and looking at him with an expression that wasn't quite as surprised as it was embarrassed, "I mean, you're gay? Oh, God, geeze, I'm sorry, I --"

He exhales, laughing slightly and stopping himself from saying "there's nothing wrong with that" or something like it.

"Okay, I look like an ignorant straight person right now, I swear I'm not, I'm actually, I guess, also...mostly gay? I mean, not all the way, I guess, I don't...not date girls, but I think I like guys more in an...attracted to them...way, I was just...not sure how you felt about that kind of thing so I, uh...didn't want to get on your bad side in case you decided to be a little harsher with me in your reports when you did find out."

He flushes a little and looks down, only to grin over at him when they start walking again.

"But...you're gay! Yay! That's great," he laughs.

Tony stares blankly at Roddie as he speaks, not quite sure what to make of the words coming out of his mouth. His head was spinning with questions he knew he'd never ask. Roddie was gay? But he did date girls? What did that even mean, like, he just slept with them? And only had relationships with men? Or was it the other way around?

He raises an eyebrow at Roddie's exclamation, his expression still curiously blank.

"Is it?" he says, the hint of a smirk at the corner of his mouth, "And even if I wasn't... You know, on the same side, I wouldn't... let something like that affect my work." He shrugs, then feels a little lightheaded as the words on the same side echo around in his head. That meant that part of the wall Tony had built between them was crumbling, built on a false assumption, and there may be a slight... sliver of a chance. The fear that accompanies that thought almost bowls Tony over, and he's glad when they reach the theater again, so he has a chance to breathe.

"Well, I don't know, you could have been the biggest homophobe in the world and stopped liking me as soon as you found out," Roddie laughs, pushing the door to the theater open with one arm, "Which, honestly, I...was liking having you like me for friendship reasons, too, I didn't want to have to ruin it by finding out you were secretly an asshole. But, uh, this went better than I thought it would. Way better."

He smirks a little at him as they make their way up the stairs, and as he passes out the popcorn to the girls and takes a seat in between Tony and Rebecca he feels a slight fluttering in his chest as the reality that Tony, who, he had to admit, now, he was starting to have something like a crush on, could actually be a (probably remote) possibility for him, and no matter how hard he tries to focus on the movie he can't seem to get that thought out of his head.

Tony can't quite concentrate on the movie, at least not as hard as he usually would, on a movie like this, not with the conversation he and Roddie had just had. He still manages to follow the plot, and act normal when the movie ends.

He and Trish chatter about the movie, their thoughts and critiques, and it's enough to keep Tony's mind off of Roddie and his sweet eyes and his gentle touches. Tony sits next to Trish at dinner, leaving Roddie to sit next to Rebecca and distracting himself with pleasant conversation.

After they eat they start to meander back towards Roddie's ship, and when Rebecca reaches out and takes Roddie's hand, effectively splitting them off into two couples, and Tony tries not to watch, to let it bother him, but it does.

"So..." Rebecca says, slowing her pace as they near his ship, "I had a really nice time. I'd... Be sad to see it end so soon," she smiles over at him, her eyebrows raised in a suggestive expression, "I've got a room on the station. You could... Come back with me."

Roddie flushes and laughs, looking down at the ground and rubbing the back of his neck.

"I...yeah, I had a nice time too, but...ah, sorry," he says, stammering a little as he tries to turn her down without seeming uninterested in her as a person, or saying anything that would make her feel like he thought any less of her for asking him for a hookup. He takes one of her hands and chews the inside of his cheek.

"I think you're really cool, but I'm gonna go back to my ship for tonight, uh. I'm only gonna be here a few days and I don't know if I'll be coming back, like, ever, maybe, I don't really make deliveries way out here, but...well...if I do come back I'll let you know where to find me. You do have my number."

He gives her a crooked smile, patting her arm as he gets up the nerve to look her in the eyes again, and after they've said their goodbyes he takes the spot at Tony's side and falls into step beside him on the way back to the ship.

Tony watches Roddie speak to Rebecca, watches him blush and hold her hand, watches her smile and nod. When Roddie leaves her side and comes towards him, he's sure that he's going to tell him he's leaving for the night, or inviting get on board, and he turns toward the ship and starts walking, desperate to delay that conversation by even a few seconds.

But when Roddie falls into step with him, he's silent, no explanations and no guests, and when Tony looks behind them Rebecca and Trish are walking away.

"You're not..." Tony starts to ask, and then swallows, "Nevermind."

Roddie sticks his hands in his pockets and smiles over at him, closing the part of his mask that went over his eyes and turning on the night vision to help him find their way to the ship in the dark.

"So, d'you have fun after all even though I was there?" he asks, walking with a little spring in his step back to the ship, "I know you made up the 'filling out reports' thing to get out of hanging out with me, but you and Trish seemed like you had a good time at least."

When Roddie starts speaking, Tony expects him to say something about Rebecca, but he's not expecting what comes out of Roddie's mouth. He stares at Roddie for a moment, and then frowns.

"I'm sorry. I... I did have a good time. And not... Not just because of Trish. It's... not that I didn't want to hang out with you, it's..." That I couldn't, he doesn't say, ashamed of the thought in his own mind. He can't imagine what Roddie might say if he explained his thought process, but he could guess that whatever it was out wouldn't be good.

Roddie laughs at his flustering, walking ahead of him a little as they near the ship and pulling his key fob out of his pocket.

"Nah, I get it, it's all right," he laughs as he unlocks the door and steps inside, though he's not entirely sure he does get it, "You're shy and all that, you don't make friends very often, whatever, it's cool, but...I dunno, I like you, man, I feel bad that you coop yourself up in here when you're on the station. We should hang out more."

Tony sighs, sure Roddie doesn't understand, but unwilling to explain further.

"I'm not... Unhappy, when I'm alone. I don't need people around me." Tony trails off, then, realizing that might sound like he's annoyed, "I mean... We can hang out without... All that," He adds, gesturing to the door that had just closed on the loud station mall.

Roddie can't help but feel slightly hurt by Tony's apparent reluctance to spend time around him, but perks up a little when he opens up the slightest bit at the end.

"Oh, like, here?" he says, looking around. He wasn't much one for hanging out on the ship, not when they were docked and there were places to go, but if that's where Tony would prefer to spend his time he would give it a try.

"Uh...okay. Alright, then, after we make our deliveries tomorrow, then...how 'bout you and me, uh, play one of those board games you like, yeah?"

He stands in the doorway of his room, looking at Tony over his shoulder and grinning as he keeps the automatic door from closing behind him.

"Deal?"

Tony swallows, staring at Roddie. His grin is disarming and Tony knows Roddie has no real interest in the board game Tony had described to him--long, complicated, full of boring details, and still he offered. Tony couldn't remember the last time someone had been so unselfishly kind to him, and for a long moment he stares at Roddie, frowning.

"Yeah," He says finally, looking away, still looking disgruntled, "Deal."

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